Charles qualified in forestry at Newton Rigg via City & Guilds and later passed the old National Diploma in Forestry in 1980 in Cirencester.

He has worked in forestry since 1975, managing his first woodland under the agent Cyril Hart at Leighton near Welshpool in 1982. He later gained valuable experience as timber buyer for the Welshpool Timber Company in the 1980s, being responsible for purchasing 60,000m3 of sawlogs per annum, much of it from Scotland and transported by rail. Later he moved to Dorset to manage 2,400 acres of Woodland on the Charborough estate, which he did for 14 years.

After seven years with Silvanus Services, mainly tree planting, Charles is delighted to be able to bring all these different aspects of the industry together under the umbrella of Pryor & Rickett Silviculture. Charles also specialises in woodland management, the design and build of shoot woods, Christmas tree production and the growing of cricket bat willows. 

He is a national expert on Red Squirrel conservation and the control of Grey squirrels including damage prediction, and advises on the subject in Ireland and Europe. Charles is a trustee of the European Squirrel Initiative and the Red Squirrel Survey Trust. He is author of 'The Red Squirrel: redressing the wrong' and became a fellow of the ICF in 2004.

Charles is passionate about fly fishing. He is also chair of North Dorset Cricket Association is is a keen cricket coach. He is married to Louise and they have three boys.